What Is
Play?
It has been documented that play plays a crucial role in the development of
healthy, confident and interested learners ( Bruner 1972, Katz 1987, Isenburg
& Quisenberry 1988, Kantrowitz & Wingert 1989, Schickendanz 1990).
Although
it is simple to compile a list of play activities, it is much more difficult to
define play. Scales, et al., (1991) called play "that absorbing activity
in which healthy young children participate with enthusiasm and abandon"
(p. 15). Csikszentmihalyi (1981) described play as "a subset of life...,
an arrangement in which one can practice behavior without dreading its
consequences" (p. 14). Garvey (1977) gave a useful description of play for
teachers when she defined play as an activity which is:
1)
positively valued by the player;
2) self-motivated;
3)
freely chosen;
4)
engaging;
5)"has
certain systematic relations to what is not play"
For optimum learning, play must happen within the criteria of
•
Safe environments
•
Appropriate play materials, equipment
and role models
•
Planned and appropriate outdoor
environments
